Salesperson License Classes - New Hot News

Massachusetts Salesperson License Class

Call today and register to attend one of our 40-hour Massachusetts Salesperson Pre-License Classes! We make the material very easy to understand. You can finish the class in only 4 days over 2 weekends. The cost at our Massachusetts Real Estate School for the Salesperson License Class is only $349, which includes the book.

My next Salesperson Pre-License class is in Peabody at the Holiday Inn on March 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th. This is a weekend class on Saturday and Sunday and runs from 8am to 7pm with breaks throughout the day and a break for lunch. This is a live class, not a video. Then I will have another class on Saturday/Sunday in Peabody at the Holiday Inn on April 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th. It's a great time to get your Real Estate License so be sure to call and reserve your seat today!

Here is what Robert from Marlboro had to say. Bill thank you so much for your class and especially John as the instructor!! I found it to be informative and quite frankly fascinating. I thought John did an excellant job at articulating all of the concepts in the book and also being informative, amiable, and a whole bunch of other big words... :-) Seriously he was great and I learned a lot from him and the class. Do not lose him as an instructor. Thanks again to you and John!!

Here is what DS from Salem had to say. John, the instructor, made 4 days so incredibly easy to digest and understand. His attitude, pace, knowledge and ability to take complex theories and relate them in a very simple way was beyond my expectations; I simply could not imagine doing this course with any other instructor.

Here is what Gale from Lynnfield had to say. This class was great.... Loved John... great voice and held my attention even when the parts were boring. I will send the feedback out shortly.. still studying... thanks for the hints.. You have the BEST class.

I spoke with Representitive Spelitos' office and they informed me that the bill will not pass this year. They may submit it in 2015, but for now the CE hours will remain at 12!!! Be sure to come to one of my classes soon.

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30 Yr. Fixed Rate Plunges to 3.89%

December 5, 2014

30 Yr. rate has dropped to an amazing 3.89%. This should create a stir in the refinancing market and hopefully a surge in the housing market. Keep in mind however, the Fed has to raise rates sooner or later.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act has been extented through the end of the year. So, what this means is, if you had a foreclosure or short sale in 2014 and the bank had a loss, they sent you an IRS form 1099-C. You are not required to pay Federal Taxes on the money however you do have to pay State Taxes. In addition, almost all Massachusetts residential mortgages are, what as know as, full recourse mortgages and the bank can chase you for their loss. Unfortunately, the IRS Form 1099-C "Forgiveness of Debt" does not release you of your obligation to repay the full amount to the lender, if the loan was for a property in this state. Sellers doing Short Sales need to get a release from the lender for the money the lender is losing. Be sure to consult an Attorney if you are going to consider a Short Sale.

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Reach Agreement to Ease Mortgage Lending

October 17, 2014

Fannie and Freddie had made it more difficult to get loans earlier this year by increasing the required downpayment to 5%. Now it appears that they have changed their minds and will be dropping the downpayment requirement back down to 3%.

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FHA Ease Rules For Borrowers Credit Issues

September 6, 2013

The FHA has relaxed the rules for people who lost their homes to "foreclosure" or did a "short sale". In the past you would have to wait as much as seven years to qualify to get a new loan. Now the FHA, in some cases, will allow borrowers to get a new loan, in as little as one year after a foreclosure or doing a short sale. Fannie Mae will allow some borrowers to get a new loan, in some cases, as little as two years after a short sale, however the seven year wait time still applies to foreclosures.

Short Sale or Foreclosure May Not Release Your Obligation To Pay The Loan

September 1, 2013

When the Lender agrees to do a short sale, they will release the property from lien. This however, does not release YOU from the debt. You need to be sure that you get released from your obligation to pay the money back to the lender or they could turn the debt over to a collection agency who may chase you until the end of time.

The City of Boston will no longer be doing Smoke Detector inspections for the sale or transfer of any Residential dwelling unit, including single family homes, multi-unit buildings and condominiums, built after 1975. Any property built after 1975 or having 6 or more units is required to have hard wired Smoke Detectors under the Massachusetts Building Code. Any Residential property, including single family homes, condominiums or multi family of 5 units or less, built prior to 1975, will still be required to have a Smoke Detector Inspection prior to sale or transfer. All Residential units including, single family, condominuims and multi-units are still required to be inspected for the proper installation and operation of Carbon Monoxide Detectors. Please remember that this is a Boston Fire Department decision and has not been adopted by all Fire Departments. For additional information please click on the link below.

By now, you should be aware, that if you bought a property from a Lender who did a faulty foreclousure, your title may be "Cloudy" or Noisey". One would think, that an action in Land Court, could quiet or fix your title. Not so fast! The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled today in the much anticipated Bevilacqua v. Rodriguez case, that you have NO title to the property at all. Not "Cloudy" or "Noisey" title that the Land Court could repair, but in fact, it appears, NO TITLE AT ALL. You may still have the right to go back and redo the faulty foreclosure. This final edict is mix of bad and good news for owners of property whose titles have been rendered defective due to improper foreclosures stemming from the landmark U.S. Bank v. Ibanez ruling last January. The Court held that owners cannot bring a court action to clear their titles under the “try title” procedure in the Massachusetts Land Court. Left open, however, was whether owners could attempt to put their chains of title back together (like Humpty-Dumpty) and conduct new foreclosure sales to clear their titles. Unfortunately, the SJC did not provide the real estate community with any further guidance as to how best to resolve these complicated title defects.

The FTC has passed a new ruling requiring Real Estate Agents, who provide certain information about mortages to prospective buyers, to provide a written disclosure statement to customers and retain all records for 2 years. Just providing generic information about mortgages, or pre-qualifing a buyer will most likely not require any disclosure, however if you provide the consumer with specific information about a particular financing program ( ABC Bank has a 30 year fixed rate loan at X % with 2 points), take an application for financing or only provide a lender's Daily Rate Sheet, a disclosure will be required. As always, this should be discussed with your manager and maybe at your office meeting too.

A new Massachusetts law, effective June 1, 2011, now requires anyone wishing to take the Mass Real Estate Classes to get their Salesperson License, to attend 40 hours of classroom instruction before they will be allowed to take the Mass Real Estate License Exam. The requirement to get the Broker License will also increase from a 30-hour class to a 40-hour class and you will be required to have three years, full time, experience as a Massachusetts Salesperson before you can take the exam for the Massachusetts Broker License. Below is the link to the new law.

Massachusetts Declaration of Homestead provides a simple and inexpensive way to proctect the equity in a principal home from up to $500,000 in certain creditor’s claims. Now the Legislature has passed the long awaited revisions to the Massachusetts Homestead Act (Senate Bill 2406), giving homeowners expanded protection. The bill was signed on Dec.17, 2010 and became law on March 18, 2011.

Here’s a summary of highlights of the amended bill:

All Massachusetts homeowners will receive an automatic homestead exemption of $125,000 for protection against certain creditor claims on their principal residence without having to do anything.

All Mass. residents are eligible for a $500,000 "declared homestead exemption" by filing a declaration of homestead at the registry of deeds. For married couples, both spouses will now have to sign the form–which is a change from prior practice.

Homesteads are now available on 2-4 family homes, and for homes in trust.

The existing "elderly and disabled" homestead will remain available at $500,000.

If you have a homestead as a single person, and get married, the homestead automatically protects your new spouse! Homesteads now pass on to the surviving spouse and children who live in the home.

You do not have to re-file a homestead after a refinance. There’s always been confusion here, with lenders requiring homeowners to either subordinate or release homesteads. Under the new law, homesteads are automatically subordinate to mortgages, and lenders are specifically prohibited from having borrowers waive or release a homestead.

Closing attorneys in mortgage transactions must now provide borrowers with a notice of availability of a homestead.

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Mass Real Estate Classes - Supreme Court Upholds Ibanez Ruling

January 7, 2011

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Friday ruled in favor of Mr. Ibanez, who had his home foreclosed upon by U.S. Bank in 2007. Mr. Ibanez's Mortgage had been resold 5 different times and eventually end up in a pool of mortgages where U.S. Bank was the trustee. Because the mortgage was not assigned directly to U.S. Bank, the court ruled that U.S. Bank had no right to do a foreclosure, because they were not the" Mortgage Holder of Record." Mr. Ibanez gets his home back! This ruling may have serious impact on many if not all of the foreclosures that have been done in Massachusetts over the last however many years. Will Title Insurance companies write Title Insurance, for someone buying a foreclosure, if the foreclosing entity was not the "Mortgage Holder of Record" at the time the foreclosure was done? This decision will have impact across the country and it will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few months. Here is a link to one of the articles.